HomeMy WebLinkAbout578"Article copied from the News Advertiser, April 2, 1997, page 1.
Historic Pickering farmhouse rises again in Claremont
Structure was demolished last year
By Marianne Takacs
STAFF REPORTER
PICKERING -- The historic
Pickering farmhouse demolished in Lynn Heights Park last June is set to rise again in
Claremont.
However, the new building will not be a reconstruction of the original 130-160-year-old
stone farmhouse. According to a report from Town staff, the new structure will rather
replicate the appearance of the original ""to a reasonable extent”.
Last June, Council approved an agreement with a developer under which the developer
would dismantle the house and remove all reusable construction materials to a storage
area before using them to reconstruct the building somewhere in Pickering
within two years.
Council had moved quickly to get the house out of the park at the request of area residents,
after deferring plans six months earlier to designate it as a historic site and have it restored
for community or private use.
Heritage Pickering had commissioned an investigation of the property which concluded
the one-and-a-half-storey fieldstone house had historical significance and was worthy of
preservation.
But area residents said they didn't want the house turned into any private or community
facility because it would create traffic and noise, take away a portion of the park,
block their view of the park and create a security hazard.
Councillors were told last week the proposed reconstruction in Claremont would have
an addition to make it more marketable, additional windows similar to those on other
buildings of the same vintage, and a different internal plan ""consistent with the spirit of a
typical centre hall plan"" like the original had. As well, for cost, energy and other reasons,
different construction methods are to be used and not all the original's reusable materials
will be employed.
The executive committee's decision last week to approve the reconstruction remains to
be ratified by council next week.
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